In the footsteps of "Arundhati": Asian Indian women's experience of domestic violence in the United States.

This study examined the ideologies and conditions that are creating women's vulnerability to spousal abuse in the Asian Indian community in the US. The study focused on the multiple factors involved in Asian Indian women's experiences of domestic violence in the US: their minority status, life as an immigrant, and pressures to preserve a flawless public image of their community. The data were collected from interviews with 12 highly educated women from India who had sought outside help due to spousal abuse. 10 of these women were foreign born, and 2 were brought up in the US. The study revealed that the most important factor in these women's lives seemed to be childhood indoctrination into the ideals of ¿good¿ wife and mother that include sacrifice of personal freedom and autonomy. Although majority of the women worked as professionals, economic independence did not seem to provide them with a sense of empowerment. Furthermore, they felt responsible for the reputation of their families in India, were eager not to compromise their families' honor with a divorce, and operated under the added pressures of preserving traditions and presenting an ¿unblemished¿ image of the community to the US mainstream.